News from Eli Terry
Week of September 8th, 2023
This week's “Terrier Tuesday” was extra special thanks to a certain retiree joining us for the fun!
Next Tuesday’s volunteer spot is open. Email me if you’re interested in starting the day bringing joy to our kiddos!
A Note from Your Principals
Bus Safety & Expectations
Dear Families,
Our #1 goal each day is to ensure that all our student bus riders are transported safely to and from school. In order to accomplish this goal, we need the cooperation of our families and our students!
Good student behavior while entering, riding, and leaving the bus contributes in many ways to a safe ride, both physically and social-emotionally. When students display expected behaviors, it makes it possible for the driver to give full attention to the roadway and other drivers.
In the last few weeks, we've seen an increase in the number of bus incident reports, as well as student reports, of negative experiences on the bus. As a result, we're reteaching, reminding, and reinforcing our PAWS expectations for the bus. As important partners in this effort, we are asking each family to take a few minutes this weekend to review with your child(ren) the PAWS expectations outlined below:
Personal Responsibility:
- Follow bus rules
- Keep your area clean
- Use indoor voices
- Take your things with you when you leave
Acting Safely:
- Quiet hands
- Quiet feet
- Stay in your seat
Working Together:
- Be a friend to your seat-mate
- Remind others of the bus rules
Showing Respect:
- Listen to the bus driver
- Have respectful conversations
In addition, we have found success with students sitting in assigned grade-level "bands" on the bus. While students will not have individual assigned seats, they will need to sit in grade-level order (Kindergarten students at the front, followed by Grade 1, 2, 3, 4, with Grade 5 students in the back). This should be the protocol for both AM and PM riding. We will have staff member support at school boarding the bus to help remind students, but we would appreciate your support in the conversation at home as well.
The primary purpose of these procedures and expectations are for the safety of all students. Your child’s cooperation in following all rules and procedures is appreciated by the drivers and our school staff!
Oliver's Pajama Project
This week our Ambassador team had the opportunity to meet the incredibly inspiring Oliver Koenig-Paquin, founder of Oliver's Pajama Project. Oliver began this project when he was in preschool and has continued it for the past 8 years. In that time he has collected and donated over 14,000 pairs of pajamas.
Our Ambassador team has decided that they would like to partner with Oliver and help with his pajama collection for this year. As a result, they are asking members of our Eli Terry and larger South Windsor community, to donate pairs of NEW pajamas (sets that have tops and bottoms), in sizes from preemie through adult 3XL. These pajamas will then be donated to organizations and families across the state, who need something comfy and cozy for bedtime.
Collection bins will be outside the Main Office. There will be a prize for the grade level that collects the most pajamas! If you would prefer to make a monetary donation, that is also an option. All money donated will be used so Oliver can shop for pajamas!
For more information about Oliver's Pajama Project, check out the flyer and resources below!
Oliver's Pajama Project Facebook page
**Submissions Needed** - Veteran's Day Assembly
It is time to prepare for our Veterans Day Assembly on November 10th, 2023!!
To help honor our veterans, we are collecting pictures of veterans from, or related to Eli Terry Families for a Veterans Day slideshow.
If you would like to send in a picture of a veteran in your family, please complete this Google Form and upload your picture. The DEADLINE for picture submission is NOVEMBER 3rd.
You may submit more than one person, but please complete a separate form for each individual.
If you have any questions about the slideshow or any trouble completing the Google Form, please email Ms. Leach (sleach@swindsor.k12.ct.us) - Music Teacher and Veterans Day Committee.
The Charter: A RULER Tool
Last month students were explicitly taught about this key RULER tool, created one unique to their classroom community, and were introduced to the "Charter Check-in" core routine. As part of our partnership with families, we want you to understand this important tool and encourage you to create a FAMILY Charter for home!
What is it?
The Classroom Charter is a tool that can help us create the positive, supportive social-emotional environments that we know are best for learning. The Charter is like a promise we make to one another, or an agreement.
How it Works:
The Charter describes how we want to feel at school and what we can do to ensure that everyone has those feelings more consistently. Everyone has a voice in its creation and plays an active role in bringing it to life. The Charter is considered a “living” document – meaning once it’s created, teachers and students make a habit of checking-in with the Charter throughout the school year; the “Charter Check-in” is a Core Routine that is woven throughout the week.
Why it Matters:
When there is a climate of emotional support and warm relationships between teachers and students, and students among one another, there is an increase in productivity and wellbeing, greater likelihood of academic success, and better outcomes for students as they become adult community members. The same is true for families!
The Charter is guided by two questions:
1. How do you want to feel when we’re together?
2. How will we help each other have these feelings more often?
Charters are created and used effectively by members of classrooms, schools, businesses, organizations, and families.
Here’s an activity you can do to create a “Family Charter” at home!
You can also check out this RULER webinar on “How We Want to Feel at Home: Creating a Family Charter” or this album that features the individual Charters created in each classroom.
5th Grade Committee Fundraiser
The Butter Braid Pastry and Cookie Dough Fundraiser will take place from October 16 - October 30. Delivery is November 20th.
This is often the most profitable fundraiser for the 5th grade class and it helps
tremendously in covering the cost of the class t-shirt, yearbook, the end of year pool
party, and other fun treats and activities throughout the year.
Please consider supporting this fundraiser. The link is included below to make ordering even easier!
A Peek Inside Our Week
4th graders in Ms. Facchini's class worked to explain and demonstrate their mathematical thinking after completing their new unit's "entry task" (pre-assessment)!
During Math WIN time, students in Mrs. Conyer's class became math "detectives", trying to find the mistakes in someone else's problem solving!
Mrs. Giroux and her two daughters celebrated our first "Terrier Tuesday" with matching ET spirit wear!
2nd Grade's Fire Safety Visit
To help kick-off Fire Prevention Week (October 8th-14th), the South Windsor Fire Department's Fire & Life Safety Unit visited Eli Terry to speak with all our second grade students. Students learned about home fire safety (including planning an escape route), practiced "escaping" the Safety House (a 35' Trailer that creates a "simulated" smoke in your house environment, and got to experience firsthand, all the equipment fire fighters use to help our community in an emergency. A HUGE thank you to all the volunteers that make this important experience possible!
Upcoming PTO Events
Spirit Wear Sale
Eli Terry's fall spirit wear sale is here!
This is the PERECT opportunity to get those Eli Terry shirts, hats and jackets, especially since every Tuesday is Terrier Tuesday (Eli Terry Spirit Day).
If your child needs a new shirt or just wants some variety we have you covered with many shirt options. The sale starts TODAY and continues until November 3rd. Please see the flyer below and click directly on it to place your order!
Purchased merchandise will be delivered to your student’s classroom the week of December 27th.
If you have any questions please reach out to the PTO via email (sweliterrypto@gmail.com) or our Facebook page.
Thank you for the overwhelming interest in the 2nd Annual Trunk or Treat! In just one short week, we have over 20 cars already registered! So don't hesitate to join the fun!!
Please be sure to register to participate via the QR code on the flyer below. For those who offered to donate treats for our trunks or volunteer our time, we THANK YOU! There is a bin for all donations located in the office and we will be taking donations up until the event date (10/27).
A Book Fair Recap
Thank you to all who supported the Scholastic Book Fair last week. We had an incredible week that resulted in pre-tax sales of $11,107.19! This equates to over 1350 books sold!
With this sale, we will receive half of that ($5,553.60) in Scholastic Dollars to spend in the Scholastic catalog.
During this fair, we spent $1600 of our current Scholastic balance to gift books to children who were unable to purchase books, as well as fulfill some of our teacher wishlists. If you're interested in how else we use our Scholastic Dollars, there's a recent post on the PTO's Facebook page detailing how these rewards were used last year.
Thank you as well to all of the volunteers who took time to assist students throughout the week! We couldn't have this fair without you!
Looking forward to seeing you all at our next fair at the end of February. Happy reading!
Mark Your Calendars!
- Wear Orange for UNITY DAY - Wednesday, October 18th
- Kindergarten Field Trip - Foster Farm - Thursday, October 19th
- RESCHEDULED Special PTO (During School) Event
- PTO Information Night for New Families - Tuesday, October 24th, 7-8PM (see flyer above!)
- PTO "Trunk or Treat" - Friday, October 27th, 6:45-8:30 (registration required...see flyer above!)
- NO SCHOOL - Election Day - Tuesday, November 7th
- PTO Virtual Paint Night - Tuesday, November 14th, 6:30-7:30PM (registration required!)
Remember...any of the above events can be quickly added to your own Google Calendar just by clicking the blue hyperlink!
Looking for a Way to Add Dates to Your iCal Calendar?
Some of the best tweaks to our weekly newsletter come from your feedback!
I recently had a parent ask if there was a way to make our calendar invites sync with Apple iCal. While I didn't know the quick answer, this parent did a little "research" and found a great work around!
She graciously created the "cheat sheet" linked below if you're interested in this capability.
Thank you Sarah Caron for helping make our newsletter even more accessible and user-friendly!
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